Police suspect deaths in Asaram’s school an insider job

Bhopal, Aug 3 (IANS) The police Sunday said the deaths of two students in a hostel at spiritual leader Asaram Bapu’s ashram in Chhindwara town in Madhya Pradesh could be the handiwork of one of the hostel inmates. “We have interrogated over 200 people in connection with this case. We hope to solve the case soon as suspects have been identified and their interrogation is complete. He could be one among the hostel inmates,” Deputy Inspector General K. Vaifai told IANS.

A five-year-old student, Vedant Kumar, was found unconscious in the bathroom of the gurukul (traditional school) run by Asaram Bapu Thursday. Earlier on Tuesday evening, another five-year-old, Ramkrishna Mohan Yadav, was found dead in similar conditions in the gurukul.

“Security in and around the hostel has been increased and about 200 children have been taken back by their parents and guardians in the past two days,” Vaifai said.

Meanwhile, the school authorities announced that the gurukul would be closed for a week.

Many deaths have been reported from schools run by spiritual leader Asaram Bapu.

In Ahmedabad, two students - Deepesh Vaghela, 10, and his cousin Abhishek Vaghela, 11 - went missing July 4 from a gurukul. Their bodies were found from the nearby Sabarmati riverbed July 6. Allegations of shoddy police probe led to widespread protests and clashes in the city.